Packers chat with Pete Dougherty

Submit your questions for Pete's live chat Thursday at 1 p.m. CDT.

I thought so, but LaFleur said he's hoping to hold Rodgers out of the opener. He said he might be able to do that if Rodgers gets a lot of quality work in against the Texans the two days they practice together. I'd still think Rodgers will get more snaps than usual in preseason weeks 2 and 3.

by Pete Dougherty8/1/2019 7:36:04 PM

"they held King out of two-minute yesterday..." I couldn't read that without hearing the sad trombone sound in my head. Is the porcelain one already injured, or are they simply choosing not to let him play a contact sport for fear that he will get injured the moment he touches another player / falls to the ground? (Sorry for the sarcasm, but we all know it's only a matter of time.)

by BroadwayJoe8/1/2019 7:36:16 PM

He took part in other team drills, but they did seem to be giving him a lot of rest. He wouldn't say much about it other than he's not injured at all and he thought they were trying to take the load off his legs. He did have a hamstring injury that landed him on IR last year and limited his work in offseason practices. I also think the NFL's injury data shows that a majority of injuries in camp happen in the first week, so I suspect this was precautionary to limit his risk of re-injuring the hamstring. But I get your skepticism, King's injury history so far warrants it.

by Pete Dougherty8/1/2019 7:39:11 PM

I haven’t heard much about Alexander. Your thoughts on his camp so far? Has he made any visible progress from last year?

by Mike Laszewski8/1/2019 7:39:22 PM

Looks pretty good to me. Don't think he's made any interceptions in team drills yet, and he's given up completions, but all CBs get beat, and his coverage has mostly been pretty tight even on completions. He still appears to be very much the competitor. He made one big play this week when he stripped the ball from Davante Adams after a catch over the middle.

by Pete Dougherty8/1/2019 7:40:50 PM

Any thoughts yet on the Packers new assistant coaches, anyone in particular catch your eye as far as doing a good job working with players?

by Larry8/1/2019 7:41:04 PM

It's almost impossible to know who the really good teachers are watching from afar. Hackett is probably the most animated coach on offense.

by Pete Dougherty8/1/2019 7:42:36 PM

What is your sense of how the players are reacting to LaFleur’s coaching style and content so far?

by Badseattle 8/1/2019 7:42:56 PM

Seems fine. He's very much an active participant in practice, he talks to players after plays, and in drills. I have to think they like his practice schedules, he doesn't keep them on the field real long. His longest practice has been 2 hours, 19 minutes. Two others were 2:15, and the others were under two hours. McCarthy would have already had at least a couple practices over 2 1/2 hours. I talked to Bulaga about it this week, he said they're going at a brisk pace, from drill to drill and between snaps, and that it's challenging physically even if shorter. In some team periods LaFleur also splits the team in two, with half the defense and offense at one end, and the other halves at the other end, so they get more reps in for everyone in a shorter period of time that way.

by Pete Dougherty8/1/2019 7:47:20 PM

Hi Pete. Any indication if they are any closer to making Gute a real NFL GM, or has that ship sailed? In other words, is Murphy intent making football decisions for the rest of his tenure in GB? If so...will he be held accountable for failure?

by TRK8/1/2019 7:47:53 PM

From what I can tell that ship has sailed. From everything Murphy has said it sounds like he'll have the coach, GM and administrative VP report directly to him from here on out. Yes, he will get a lot of the credit if they do well and bear a lot of the responsibility if they don't.

by Pete Dougherty8/1/2019 7:49:55 PM

Tom, A follow up on Tom's question. Does Murphy stand alone while he's attending practice or is he near Gutenkust, keeping the communication line wide open during training camp?

by Richard8/1/2019 7:50:15 PM

From what I've seen, and it's not like I'm checking on it regularly, he spends a decent amount of time talking to fans who have sponsor passes to get into practice, at least early in practice. He also will stand next to a scout or two, or other Packers' employees who are watching. And sometimes he stands by himself. I haven't seen him talking to Gutekunst during practice but I have to think there are times he does. But trust me, It's hard enough watching the plays and keeping track of substitution patterns and who's working with the 1s, 2s and 3s, etc., and what's happening each play, so I can't be sure on this.

by Pete Dougherty8/1/2019 7:56:48 PM

Melvin Gordon's agent asked Charger for a trade. Jones banged up already... any chance we make a deal?

by Matt8/1/2019 7:56:57 PM

I'd bet fairly strongly against it. Very good back, but it will cost a high pick and a big contract. There might be three or four backs in the league worth the kind of money Gordon is looking for, but as good as he is I don't think he's one of them.

by Pete Dougherty8/1/2019 7:58:16 PM

I know he is installing an Offense but wondering how much time LaFleur spends with Defense in practice? Or, does he pretty much leave that to Pettine?

by Mike8/1/2019 7:58:38 PM

Seems like he leaves it pretty much to Pettine. But I thought it was kind of noteworthy, yesterday after practice he was asked about the offense making a couple nice plays, and the question was phrased like he was with the offense and not the defense, and he basically said it wasn't necessarily great because the defense has to do better. Maybe I'm reading something into it that's not there, but that made me wonder if he's trying to set a mentality that he's the coach of the whole team, and not just the offense. I never fully appreciated that there can be real divides in NFL locker rooms where the defense and offense are kind of at odds until I read "Collision Low Crossers," where a reporter embedded with the Jets in 2011. That was a defensive-oriented team, and there was a real divide between the offense and defense that seemed to carry over to the coaching staff. So I wondered if LaFleur was trying to set a tone and bridge that divide. I might be all wet, but that came to mind when he said that.

by Pete Dougherty8/1/2019 8:03:38 PM

Just got off work, don't even know if you're still chatting, but in case you are... I think the Packers are going to surprise people with how good they are this year. I predict the playoffs and I've never missed a Packers playoff prediction. What say you?

by Slade8/1/2019 8:03:54 PM

All right, this will have to do it, other duties to attend to. But many great questions, thanks for taking the time to check in and share your thoughts and opinions. This year is as hard to predict as any I can remember in about a decade. They've gone 8-8 with each of the three previous coaching changes they've made since I've covered the team (and they had a future Hall of Famer in Favre at QB each time), so I guess I'll go with that until something changes my mind. Again, thanks for taking part in the chat, it's always great to know what you're wondering and thinking. Make sure to check in to PackersNews.com for all the news from camp, we cover it very, very thoroughly. And thanks to all the subscribers, it costs a lot of money to cover the team like we do, and your subscriptions are critical for allowing us to do that. We haven't set the chat schedule for next week yet, but the best guess is it will be Wednesday, with the preseason opener Thursday night. Until then, take care.